“Du Toit whizzed through its overt technical difficulties with aplomb, delivering the vivacious fingerwork with consummate ease and maintaining faultless intonation throughout the instrumental registers.” Deon Irish, Cape Times (15/08/2012)

“Sensational Stand-in – There was a surprise in the next work, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. The designated soloist was taken ill and his place was taken at 48 hours notice by Maria du Toit, who is the principal clarinet of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. She not only played the work by heart but also as if she had been practising it all her life, for the interpretation and accuracy were astonishing in the circumstances. Apart from anything else, Du Toit’s tone was extremely mellifluous, making for heart-rending beauty in the slow movement.” The Citizen (12.03.2012)

“…Maria du Toit showed why she is on an international level. Not only does she have supreme control over the technical challenges of Weber’s second clarinet concerto, but she also achieves an exciting effect with extended crescendo’s and diminuendo’s in these fast passages. Then again, she exhibited her musicality in the flowing contours of the lyrical second movement. The audience rewarded her with a standing ovation.” Elretha Britz, Die Volksblad (07/03/2011)

“Du Toit played the work with an assured air and self-evident enjoyment. She is a fine instrumentalist, which we have experienced in her many orchestral solo contributions since her appointment in 2002. But a concerto is a far more taxing requirement and she rose to the challenge with distinction.(…) She has fine breath control and phrasing was exemplary throughout, the frequently long episodes of passage work in the outer movements and, more particularly, the long melodic strands of the celebrated Adagio being sustained with no sense of a shortage of breath. Fingerwork in the intricate running passages was precise and tonguing skilfully employed to articulate repeated notes and rhythmic stresses. The dynamic palette was impressive, too: certainly attaining the required pianissimo re-entry of the subject in the adagio, reaching a bell-like clarity of projection in some of the more lyrical episodes, particularly in the soprano register.” Deon Irish, Cape Times (15.04.2010)

“…in the ATKV Forte competition she was, thanks to a baffling technique and a rich, sweet tone, a well-deserved first prize winner.(…) Du Toit kept one nailed to one’s seat from the first to the last note. After the joyful opening her playing in the Fantasia had a beauty that could not easily be surpassed.” Gottfried Maas, Die Burger (27.05.2003)

“… she overwhelmed the listener with her dazzling playing (…) Her interpretation was stylishly classical, yet there was expressive emotional warmth. Tone colours were subtly controlled and the huge range of dynamic levels was very striking. Her masterly phrasing and breath control were especially noticeable in the Adagio, and in the lively Finale her agile runs and trills underlined her solid technique even further.” Pieter Kooij, Die Burger (10.04.2010)